It hit him the way it always did, like someone threw a heavy blanket over his senses. Colors dulled. Sounds sank. Even the air felt thicker, as if the world had decided to forget him.
His senses became duller, but so was his own being.
He felt smaller in a strange way. Not physically smaller, but less… defined. Like his edges blurred into the background.
His presence became low, and the world's tone turned gray.
He moved close to the entrance of the stairway leading to the floor he was currently on and tucked himself into the shadow of a broken cubicle wall and a leaning filing cabinet.
He positioned the stairwell so that it would spit them out right in front of him. He adjusted his grip on the axe, testing the weight again. The smoldering edge had cooled slightly while he climbed, but it still held a faint warmth like a promise.
Sound echoed, though for Kael it sounded far and deep, like someone speaking from the depths of a well.
